Sign-up Now and “Share” to Shift Our Disposable Cup Habit and Create Community-wide Change

A post by Karin de Weille

Here in Seattle, we’ve taken the lead in recycling. Now we need to push the envelope by shifting to reuse. In the U.S., we use about half a million disposable hot-beverage paper cups every 15 minutes. And that number has increased by a third in a mere four years.

See this picture with the Statue of Liberty? It’s an image produced by the Seattle photographer Chris Jordan (from his Ted talk). The frame is filled with columns of stacked paper cups. See the little notch on the bottom left? That’s two tiny people looking up—at the cups America uses in a single day.

Our addiction to convenience is getting out of control. Recycling is better than landfill but does that mean we get to be wasteful, extruding a veritable torrent of disposable, single-use items, plowing through the resources burned up for the sake of a product used once and then tossed? Let’s take a closer look…

Manufacturing paper cups is extremely resource-intensive, using tons of wood, water and energy. Then there’s the plastic and palettes we use for transport, the trucks (and the cost of manufacturing these), the miles of road they travel, the fuel they burn, the greenhouse gases suffusing our atmosphere...

For about ten minutes, the cup holds my hot drink. Then I throw it away. It makes me want to say, Never mind, I’ll bring my own. Really, please don’t bother.

But that’s not the end of it. Let’s add in the cost of composting and recycling: the trucks that hit the road to pick up all this waste, the cost of manufacturing them, the fuel they burn, the road they wear down, the cost of the facilities that must do all the composting and recycling, etc. And what about the cost of loading it all on ships and moving it halfway across the world to China, where most of Seattle’s recycled material ends up? Add to that the fact that paper recycling is really downcycling, your cup will eventually end up in a landfill no matter what.

All for the sake of a cup you use for ten minutes and then toss. Yes, recycling is good—when there is no alternative. But does it give us permission to create waste? That’s backwards! We still need to conserve all we can, by using the store’s mugs or bringing our own.

Let’s lead the way here in Seattle, as we did on recycling. No reason to stop now and be satisfied with the status quo. The next step in the evolution of consciousness is reuse. And it’s nothing new. It’s a natural practice that has only recently been derailed. People have always hung onto stuff, including our parents and grandparents. Throwing stuff out thoughtlessly is a new phenomenon, manufactured by the entrepreneurs of the 50s who realized that disposability consciousness was a cash cow and set about brainwashing us. Let’s take charge of our own minds and behavior now.

We’ll take three weeks, starting with Green Fest on May 21. Visit www.NewWorldHabits.org for details and sign up now. Signing on is critical since only then can our individual habit change inspire others, creating a community-wide shift. And so is sharing. Let’s make this grow together. Within weeks, a collective shift in habits can take place—let’s keep moving forward into the future, at a pace we can be proud of.

New World Habits: Disposable Cup Campaign

A post by Karin de Weille

What can we do to help the earth that requires no money, new infrastructure or technology, no legislation or political will, not even time (to speak of)?

I’ve been wondering, why not kick our disposable cup habit together and make an instantaneous, collective shift? Take three weeks. New World Habits has created a website and partnered with Sustainable Seattle and others--Zero Waste, Green Fest. Coffeehouses are also supportive, including Caffe Ladro, Grateful Bread, and Cafe Javasti. So a structure is in place, something to work with. But it’s continuing to evolve—the messaging, the posters, the outreach (getting individuals as well as coffeehouses on board--it's easy--a flier on the site is all you need to approach your own local shop/cafeteria/office). You can help grow this!

We’re launching the 3-week campaign soon--May 21 with GreenFest, so it’s time to spread this. A signup process is in place through The Point (see JOIN NOW on the site…)

Some stats… We Americans throw away almost half a million cups every 15 seconds. Last year, paper cup usage created close to 400 million pounds of solid waste, and that represents almost a third more than just 4 years earlier! When our addiction to throwing away spirals out of control, it’s not enough to compost or recycle. The rule is reduce first. The disposable consciousness has got to go. There’s a moving video on the site about this. Take a look. NewWorldHabits.org. On the facebook page Disposable Cup Campaign, you can join with others who want to contribute creative ideas and help shape the campaign.

Richard Conlin is a supporter, seeing this as a great opportunity for Seattle to do what it’s good at—test out something new that then spreads. So for those of you who are thinking you want to make this shift in your personal habits or would like to help grow the movement, this is a clear opportunity to explore the power of collective impact.

And if you're looking for last-minute (or belated) gift ideas for the Earth, just sign up now!